Los Angeles' push to have developers set aside portions of new residential projects for below-market-rate housing is facing a showdown at City Hall this month, with the outcome likely to shape the city's future housing policy.
In recent years, Los Angeles has gradually increased the percentage of units that developers must set aside for moderate-income residents.
Now, a developer is pushing back after the city ordered it to reserve 25% of the 438 units planned at a Warner Center apartment complex -- the largest set-aside the city has ever required.
The resolution of the issue could have major implications not only for city policy, but, ultimately, also for the availability of housing for middle-class workers.
The average monthly rent in the city has nearly doubled in the last 12 years and now stands at about $1,700. About 13,000 below-market housing units were built in L.A. over the last six years.
But during that same period, about 11,000 below-market apartments were either torn down or converted into condos, according to a study by the Southern California Assn. of Non-Profit Housing.
The idea behind the city's "inclusionary housing" rules, officials say, is to allow people who work in an area but might not be able to afford market rents -- such as teachers, shopping mall employees and police officers -- to live near their jobs.
When a development opens, the first renters for the below-market units must work nearby and meet the economic qualifications.
Last year the City Council approved an ordinance requiring new housing developments in the fast-growing Warner Center area of the west San Fernando Valley to set aside 25% of the units.
Councilman Dennis Zine, who represents the area, said the goal was to prevent Warner Center from turning into "another Century City," where many people who work in the office towers, schools and shops cannot afford to live nearby.
"We've got to maintain the livelihoods for working people so they don't have to move to Lancaster and Palmdale and spend $2 to $3 a gallon on gas to drive the freeways every day," he said. "It's a quality-of-life issue. I want hard-working people to be able to afford a residence in Los Angeles."
Average rents in Warner Center range from about $1,800 to $2,200 a month. Under the city's rules, units set aside for inclusionary housing in the district would rent for $1,463 for a one-bedroom unit and $1,674 for a two-bedroom.
